I'm sorry Diana, says former paparazzi photographer

A FORMER paparazzi photographer has apologised to Princess Diana for a photo he took 21 years ago.

Sandgate photographer Paul Neil took a hundred photos of Diana, Princess of Wales in the 1990s. Now, the 20th anniversary of her death has prompted him to apologise for just one.

In an open letter to the Princess Mr Neil said, "Hey Diana, You won't remember me but I just wanted to say I am so sorry about a photo I took of you that I am pretty sure you would not have liked".

The photo showed the Princess revealing part of her thigh as she got into a car. The photo was syndicated and ran with the headline 'The Thigh's The Limit For Princess Di'.

"It's just a bad photo in every way but especially in the way it was used," Mr Neil wrote in the letter on his blog.

"I want you to know that I will never let my photos be misused in this way again."

Paul Neil took photos of many celebrities during his time as a photographer for London News Service, a news agency that sold articles and photos to newspapers and magazines in the UK and around the world - but this photo of Diana, Princess of Wales revealing part of her thigh as she gets into a car is the one he regrets.Paul Neil

Mr Neil clearly remembers where he was when he heard Princess Diana had died.

"I was driving back from my honeymoon in Byron Bay," he said.

"Last week I was driving back from our weekend away to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary and was flooded with memories of Princess Diana.

"There has never been anyone like her and the public and media interest in everything she did. She had to move in a clandestine way all the time with decoys. She was followed everywhere.

"I certainly never chased her on motorbikes. I did royal galas and charity events but the photos I took meant nothing to me as there were so many other photographers taking the same photos.

"There was something very special about her. She would be in a serious mood at an event and in a moment she could be laughing with some children.

"That's when the magic happened, that's when her face came alive.

"I didn't know I'd taken that (thigh) photo of Princess Diana. I was shooting from the time she walked out of the theatre until she got into the car.

"The photo editor had been doing it for years and knew exactly what would sell. He said one of my photos was going to be syndicated and I asked what that meant.

Paul Neil photographed Princess Diana attending 10 events during his time as a photographer for London News Service.Paul Neil

"It meant a slide of the photo and the story were being sent to 25 counties to be used in newspapers and magazines.

"It was a defining moment for me. I thought, 'that's not a good photograph' and the story was terrible.

"I wanted to take pictures to show people at their best; pictures they would be proud of and want to show people.

"I knew a photographer who spent three months a year sitting in a boat off St Kitts (in the West Indies) waiting for celebrities to take off their tops or be frolicking on the beach or in a clinch. He made a year's wages doing that.

"The last straw came when I was sent to stake out British actress Emma Thompson's house after Kenneth Branagh left her. I was told to go and hang outside her house before light; it was freezing.

"There were dozens of photographers waiting and no sign of life in the house, no lights on or anything. After waiting for hours a friend of hers came out and told us she wouldn't be coming out, she had released a statement to the press and to please go and leave her along.

"I thought we'd all go but I was told to stay put and we all stayed. Then more hours passed and Emma came out and she looked so sad and she asked us to leave and said she had already given a statement.

"One of the photographers said he didn't get it and could she repeat it. She was really upset and she tried to remember what the press release said and it was awful. We all got a picture and she looked tragic and she asked us to leave and nobody did.

"We were there for about 16-18 hours and I felt terrible as a person. Why were we still there?

"When that happened I was happy to give up the tabloids and I moved to the broadsheets, The Independent and The Times."

Clint Eastwood at an event in the 1990s - captured by Paul Neil during his time working as a photographer in London.Paul Neil

Mr Neil said he never felt like he fitted in with the paparazzi as he liked to ask the talent if he could take their photo.

"I was sent to wait outside a restaurant for Sting (musician) and his partner Trudie Styler who was very heavily pregnant. Sting was known for not liking the press but I was told to get a shot of him.

"When he came out I asked if I could take his photo. He hesitated then said yes. Trudie turned side on so you could see her pregnant figure and I took one picture.

"Photographs are all about people for me. I want people to know they can trust me as a photographer. I will always show them at their best and the bad photos will never see the light of day.

"You don't want to upset people or burn your bridges and it's not a professional thing for me, it's a personal thing. I love giving people photos they really love.

"A photo of someone you love becomes more valuable over time and really treasured. You hear about people on their deathbed holding a faded little black and white photo and it means so much to them because it's a photo of someone they love."